Saradha scam: TMC MP grilled

TNN, Kolkata :
The CBI questioned Trinamool Congress MP Subhendu Adhikari on Wednesday over allegations made by his arrested party colleague Kunal Ghosh that he got Rs 8 crore – and wanted more – from Saradha boss Sudipta Sen over a Saradha Realty-promoted Contai housing project.
The hour-and-a-half questioning at CBI’s CGO complex office came a day after Sen’s driver Arvind Singh Chauhan issued an explosive statement that Sen had met Adhikari on the night of April 7, 2013, at Saradha’s Midland Park headquarters just hours before he fled Kolkata on April 8.
On Wednesday, Enforcement Directorate sealed the chamber on the first floor of the Saradha Group’s Midland Park office.
Adhikari had dismissed Chauhan’s allegation saying: “I do not feel it necessary to respond to allegations made by a person who is himself in jail. It is a deliberate attempt to malign me and my party.”
The MP claimed he was summoned by CBI to appear as a “witness” under Section 160 CrPC. CPM leader Rabin Deb had also said the same thing when he appeared before CBI for questioning.
The “witness” aspect, however, is interpretative. Section 160 CrPC allows any police officer to summon people who may provide “information” or may be “acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case” of any ongoing investigation.
According to sources, CBI investigators spoke to Adhikari specifically on the Saradha Realty deal. Kunal Ghosh had mentioned this alleged deal in a video that surfaced just days after his arrest on November 11, 2013.